Off in my own little world
by Z.jean
Summary: Bridget is a simple minded girl, she's either happy, or she's not. She also tends to space out frequently, heading off into her own little world. She's been friends with Riku for awhile now, but recently he's been acting really odd. OCxRiku long One-Shot


**My first One-Shot! Woo! I hope you like it!**

I tapped my fingers on the table impatiently, as I watched the second hand on the clock tick down and down. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._ I let my eyes wander down at the Math teacher. He was a timid guy, the type who was probably teased in his years in school. Curly blond hair, and a hunched back. Large horn rimmed glasses, and a long nose. Freckles, and pants far higher then any pants should ever be, the list could go on. His nostrils flared as he took deep breaths in and out in perfectly in sequence with the clock's _tick tock tick tock_.

"Can anyone remember the quadratic formula?" he asked. I looked back at the clock, waiting for him to let us out, "No one?" I saw Riku raise his hand out of the corner of my eye. "Y-yes," he stuttered.

"X equals b," he began, "Plus or minus the square root of b2 minus 4ac over 2a," Mr. Garrett gave a small smile, and then turned to the board to write down what Riku had just recited.

"Very g-good!" Mr. Garrett said as finished up. Riku did not seem proud of himself, nor did he seem to acknowledge his own brilliance. He just slumped back into his chair and started to doodle on his paper.

The minute hand on the clock finally reached its place, and I quickly threw my

hand up in the air, "Mr. Garrett!" I cried out. He jumped a bit, and turned to me.

"Ah! Yes, Bridget," he said as he pushed his glasses up on his nose, "this is a rarity, do you have a question?" I shook my head.

"Class is over," I said bluntly. I heard a few people chuckle behind me, as Mr. Garrett looked up at the clock, his face filled with disappointment.

"So it is," he sighed, as he began to pack up his belongings on his desk, "The homework is the second page of that packet I gave you yesterday," he said slowly as the rest of the class began to get up and head to lunch, "be sure to do it!" he shouted. I quickly pushed my things into a large bunch and then shoved it into my bag.

"Bee," I heard Riku say from next to me. I looked up at him. He was already packed up, and ready to go.

"Hold on," I mumbled as I stood up, and swung my bag over my shoulder. Riku waited patiently, his sea foam green eyes watching me as crammed stray pieces of paper into my bag. "Okay," I breathed. Without a word he began to walk, I followed silently. We walked down the hallway like this, we didn't look at each other, and we didn't talk to each other. It was hard to believe we were friends. He had been doing this for a while recently. It was starting to worry me. I began to wonder if he even considered me a friend.

How _did_ we become friends? I couldn't remember. And before I had time to recall, we had already made it to the cafeteria.

"Hey!" I turned around to see Sora and Kairi walking towards us. Sora was waving enthusiastically. Riku turned to see them to; he smiled slightly, and waved back.

"Hey bee!" Kairi called upon seeing me. They both ran up to us, "Check it out," Kairi began as she pulled out a folded up piece of paper from her pocket. She quickly pulled it apart, "I got an A on my history essay!" she cried with joy. I gasped.

"Way to go!" I shouted as I hugged her, "I told you could do it!"

"What did you get, Sora?" Riku asked.

"Why don't we go get some lunch?" He laughed nervously. Kairi shot a glare at him, so did Riku. It was like they were sending a, _you're not getting off that easily _kind of glare.

"Sora got a C-." Kairi said skeptically. Sora dropped his head in shame. I laughed.

"Hey, isn't that better then last time?" I pointed out, "So, Good job Sora!" I had hoped to encourage all of them. Sora seemed happier, but the others were now sending me the, _don't encourage him!_ glare. I got that a lot.

"Thanks Bridget," Sora sighed. I smiled politely. "Now that we're done insulting me, can we _please_ go get some lunch?" he pleaded, "I'm starved."

"Fine," Kairi said. We all headed to the lunch line. I picked out a yogurt, a salad, and then I came up to the 'main course'. It was meatloaf day. I had the choice of Meatloaf, for the meat eaters, and well…not meatloaf for the vegetarians. I honestly couldn't tell the difference as I looked at the too of them. They both looked like a square of brown stuff. I reached out to what I thought was the not meatloaf, but a pale hand quickly grabbed mine.

"You should avoid the meatloaf," Riku advised.

"What about the not meatloaf?" I asked innocently.

"Do you know what it's made out of?" he asked with a slight grin. I looked down at the food. I tried to think of a clever answer, but I honestly couldn't.

"Not meatloaf." I said. Riku nodded, and then let my hand go. Then, he moved around me, and continued to his seat at our table. I looked at the meatloaf once more, and then left it. I could deal with a simple salad and a yogurt today.

I took a seat next to Namine who had the same foods as me. The only difference was she had chosen the strawberry yogurt, while I had chosen the blueberry. Kairi took a seat next to me, and began eating her PB&J sandwich. Roxas and Riku were on the other side of the table, but Sora was still filling his tray up.

"Hey, have you guys heard about the meteor shower?" Roxas asked suddenly. We all looked up at him.

"The what?" I asked, my mouth filled with contents from my salad.

"Meteor shower," Roxas repeated, "I heard about it in Astronomy, it's going to be tomorrow night at around 9," he explained.

"I think I've heard about it," Namine said, "My homeroom teacher is having a barbecue with her family, and then they're going to watch it."

"Sounds cool," Riku said. Sora finally took a seat next to Riku. I looked at his tray, he had 4 pieces of meatloaf, or not meatloaf, he had an orange, a salad, a cookie, and the soup.

"What are we talking about?" He asked as he began peeling his orange.

"The meteor shower!" Kairi said happily, Sora didn't seem to completely understand, but he wasn't the type to care too much so Kairi continued on, "What if we watched it together, on the islands!" she suggested.

"That sounds like fun!" I said happily.

"I'd have to ask my mom…" Roxas said solemnly, "but if she says yes, then I'd love to go!" Kairi and I turned to Namine.

"You know me," she mumbled, "Of course I'll go." We looked to Sora who was having some trouble cutting the meatloaf apart.

"I'll go!" he said.

"Sounds good," Riku said simply. I stared at Riku as he ate his food. What was he thinking? Why wouldn't he talk to me anymore? Did he hate me? We used to be pretty tight, but then right after Christmas break; he started getting so quiet around me. Like he was hiding something. Maybe he just didn't want to talk to me anymore.

I had a tendency to upset myself when I thought such things. I didn't know why it upset me so much, it just did. I lost my appetite, and pushed the tray away. I had barely finished the salad. I didn't like to cause a commotion when I put myself in bad moods. I didn't get mad, I didn't storm off, I didn't really change anything about my actions, so that people wouldn't be worried about me.

I zoned out for the rest of the conversation, a frequent thing I did. In our group of friends, I was known as the spacey one. Sora was the happy one, Kairi was the hard working one, Namine was the shy one, Roxas was the nice one, and Riku was the cool one. Where these titles came from, I don't know. They just erupted with one of the many conversations we had.

Every once in a while, they would ask me something. They were asking me about what we should bring to the island. I would answer, "I dunno," and then I would shrug. Then they would ask me if an item was a good idea, and I would happily nod and say, "Sounds good!" It kept the conversation flowing whilst I didn't have to put in any effort. Easy as pie.

I had a free after lunch, and I headed straight for the school library. Quiet, comfortable, and a generally good place to reflect on things. I barely said goodbye to any of my friends, but I wasn't thinking about that. I couldn't stop wondering if maybe Riku hated me.

I found an empty isle, in the corner of the library. The math section, which surprisingly enough, never had anyone in it. Or at least, not when I was there. Occasionally, a couple would walk in, thinking it was empty, but I'd always cough loud enough that notice me, and move into the history section. Again, not too popular.

So I sat quietly, curled into a ball, with my knees tucked under my chin. I hated myself when I thought negatively, but I couldn't help it. _Why am I friends with Him? With any of them? _I thought to myself, _I'm definitely close to Kairi. But I was always close with her. But the others, why do they talk to me?_ _I'm so…_I heard a loud thump and I looked up to see Riku standing above me, his fist against the wall.

"You really are a space," Riku chuckled as looked down at me. I cocked my head to the side.

"Why is that?" I asked. He sighed and took a seat against the bookshelf.

"I've been calling you forever," he said as he looked up at me.

"I only just got here about five minutes ago," I pointed out.

"I've been trying to catch up with you since you left lunch," He sighed, "You're a fast walker." He turned around and pulled a calculus book from the shelf. He opened it up, and began to read it like a storybook. I sat silently, waiting for him to say something.

"Riku," I finally said after awhile.

"Hm?"

"Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" I asked.

"No," he said simply his eyes still on the pages of the book.

"So, then why'd you follow me?" Riku looked up at me, and leaned his head against the shelf, his eyes scanned me for a moment, and then he smiled.

"Is there anything _you _wanted to talk about?" he asked. My heart began to beat fast. I thought that I was so clever about keeping my emotions to myself, and here was Riku, of all people, trying to get me to talk about my problems. I opened my mouth to speak but I had no idea what to say, so it just hung like I had cut the nerves from my brain, which had controlled it. "Bridget?"

"What makes you think I need to talk?" I finally said.

"I think I've known you long enough to tell when you're upset," he grinned. It was news to me. He closed the book and placed on the ground, "So tell me," he began, "Why do you look so sad?"

"I look sad?" I said, my voice scratchy and high pitched. It felt like my heart had actually jumped into my throat.

"Not so much anymore. You look surprised right now," he said in a matter-of-fact way. I scrunched my face up. _He can read me like an open book!_ I thought to myself."Bee, you gotta stay with me," Riku joked, "You cant just go off in your little world and leave me here."

"Why are you being so nice?" I said suddenly. Riku looked taken back, he pulled his head back, and scrunched up his face.

"You think I'm a bad person?" Riku asked. I shook my head.

"I mean, you're usually so serious lately…." I trailed off as my eyes lowered to the ground. "Or quiet. This is the first time I've seen you so laid back, and…. Normal, in a long time," I spoke honestly, but I regretted opening my big mouth as soon as the words flew out. It was like Riku was pulling the truth out of me.

"I think that I have the right to be nice with a friend," he laughed, "Besides, it's a rare time. I don't have to keep you from anything dangerous." Ouch. Maybe Riku wasn't as good of a mind reader then I thought. He couldn't tell that I hated being taken care of. I wanted to be on the same level as him. I wasn't weak, or incompetent. Clueless, yes, but I needed to grow out of that. "Looks like I've made you upset," he said.

"It's not you," I huffed, "I just realized that I have a lot of work to do," I stood up, and brushed myself off. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't look at him. He may pull the truth out of me again, and I couldn't have that could I? "See you later Riku," I said as I walked out of the isle.

The rest of the period was a blur, I was still stuck in depression mode, and to top it all off, Riku knew me better then I thought. I never knew what _he _was thinking. Then I began to get upset that I was only thinking about Riku, so I began to wonder why I was a friends with Namine, then Roxas, then Sora. To be honest it made me feel better that I had so many people to wonder about.

My last class was Astronomy. I had originally signed up with Roxas, but because there were too many people who wanted to take it, the class was split, and so were Roxas and I. I wasn't friends with anyone in the class.

I took a seat in the back corner of the room, where I took my things out patiently, and waited. Hayner, Pence and Olette, were the next people to walk in. And I had to be honest; I had a little bit of a crush on Hayner. I didn't know why, but I liked him, and that was that.

"Ah, man," Hayner, sighed, "I _hate_ astronomy class."

"Hayner, you hate _every _class," Olette corrected. I chuckled under my breath, I had hoped no one could hear me, but I saw Pence take a glance at me. "So where do you guys want to sit?" Olette asked as she stopped in the front of the classroom.

"How about in the back?" Hayner said, pointing to the seat next to me. I perked up, and smiled.

"Sounds good!" Pence said happily. Olette looked skeptical, she eyed the seat next to me.

"Why?" She said after a moment. Hayner jumped.

"Because…" he trailed off, "Because I want to get to know Bridget better!" He shouted. _SCORE!_ I thought to myself. I tried to keep it in by simply reading a book. Maybe Hayner and the others though I wasn't paying attention.

"You just want to sit in the back so that you can fall asleep!" Olette shouted accusingly, "Not to get to know Bridget!" Hayner sighed in defeat. "You can't fall asleep in all of your classes." My heart sank as Olette forced Hayner to sit in the front. The day wasn't so good.

Why couldn't Olette just let Hayner sit in the back? It didn't matter if he were to sleep, it's his choice. I thought that Olette liked Riku! She doesn't need to keep Hayner all to herself!

The whole class was devoted to the meteor shower and 'what they mean'. They said that meteor showers are the only time when we can get pieces of other worlds so that we can study them. So it's basically when the paths to other worlds open up without the use of gummi ships, and there may be some new islanders coming in.

The last meteor shower was when my family and me moved in. It was violent and scary, and honestly, I blacked out during the travel time. We came from Twilight town with Roxas, Hayner, pence and Olette's families too.

I waited outside of the school for Riku, Sora, and Namine. Since we all lived in the same direction, we walked home together frequently. Kairi and Roxas had already left. Namine came first.

"Hey!" I shouted to her, she gave me a small wave as she came up to me." How was art?" I asked looking down at her sketchbook. She handed it to me.

"See for yourself," she said kindly. I flipped passed pictures I had already seen, and came to a rose. I smiled, "Still life," she said as she pointed to it.

"Its great!" I said encouragingly, "What did Sora draw?" I asked. He was in the same class as Namine, but he was kinda bad, and I enjoyed his failed attempts. I never told him I thought that way, but everyone else did.

"He drew a baseball," Namine sighed, "he began the classing saying 'no one could mess up a simple baseball,' but…" she trailed off.

"He messed up?" I chuckled.

"He couldn't even draw the circle correctly when the teacher gave him a glass to trace!" she yelled angrily. I laughed, I knew that Namine got angry at Sora because he wasn't too good, but only because she knows he can be good if he put more effort into drawing. Kind of like how everyone gets mad at him for getting bad grades, we all know he can do better.

"Namine, Bridget," I heard Riku call from behind us. We turned around to face him; immediately seeing that he was literally dragging a limp Sora. His face was pale, and he had one arm over Riku's shoulder, and another clutching his stomach.

"What happened?" Namine asked as they walked up to us.

"I don't know…" Riku sighed, "We were getting our stuff from the lockers, and all the sudden he double over onto the ground."

"I doan feeel guuudd," Sora moaned, followed by a loud burp. Riku set him on a bench, "Myy stoomachhh herrttsss." I stood silently when suddenly it clicked.

"What did you have for lunch?" I asked him.

"Uhhh….daa meatlooaffff, summm salladd, an orangee, and a cookieee," his words slurred together.

"Are you sure it wasn't the meatloaf for vegetarians?" Riku asked as he crossed his arms. Sora looked up.

"Derr wazz sum ferrrr vegetariansss??" He asked dumbfounded.

"You idiot," Riku sighed.

"Oh no, Sora!! You know you get sick when you eat tofu," Namine cried, her face filled with worry. I was still waiting to see Sora's picture of the baseball, and since we figured out what was wrong with him, I didn't see a point in getting worried. We knew what would happen, he would throw up, and he'd be fine.

"So what do we do?" Riku asked looking down at me, I shrugged. He turned his attention to Namine, who was frantically trying to keep Sora from puking on the spot. "Namine, why don't you take Sora to your house," he suggested. She nodded and tried to lift Sora up.

"Huh? Why not just take him home?" I asked Riku.

"Sora's parents don't come home for awhile," Namine said with Sora on her shoulder, "My parents will be there, and they can help."

"Right," I said. Riku began to help Namine with carrying him, and we started to our ways home.

We passed Sora's house, then we got to Namine's. We helped the two of them inside, and got them situated. Then Riku and I got back on the road to head to his house. We walk in silence for a while, which I found quite normal, but then things began to get weird. Riku usually walked ahead of me, and didn't turn back. But he suddenly slowed down to my pace and walked beside me.

"Sora can be such an idiot!" Riku vented, "I'm always having to clean up behind him, _literally._" I chuckled slightly.

"I cant believe that he got that sick!" I said. Riku grinned.

"It wasn't just the fact that it was tofu, it was also the fact that the food just isn't edible," he pointed out. He glanced down at me, and patted me on the head; "Bet you're glad you didn't get any meatloaf today, huh?" I smiled and patted my stomach.

"I think I could've handled it! I have an iron belly!" I let out a loud forced laugh, it sounded a bit like I was trying to impersonate Santa clause, except instead of, ho ho ho, I said ha ha ha.

"Is that the truth?" Riku said as he leaned towards me.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I said blankly, one hand rose in the air, the other over my chest. He laughed as we came up to his house.

I watched as he walked over to his door, and took his keys out of his pocket. He put it into the keyhole, and paused. He turned to look at me, and with the biggest smile I had ever seen him give, he said, "Next time you want to eat god-knows-what from our cafeteria, I wont stop you."

"That's what I like to hear!" I shouted as he went inside. Maybe I was a worthy friend. I felt like one. I drifted home, telling myself that I was a good friend, and I felt a lot better.

_I'm their friend!_ I would think to myself. _At least, I think I am. Aww! Who cares? If they invited me to the islands, then I think I can qualify myself as a friend!_ I laid on my bed staring up at the blank ceiling. _Since I'm kind their friends, maybe tomorrow I can ask all of them!_ Positive thinking.

For once, I was extremely happy to be going to school. I almost skipped down the street with glee, humming a wonderful tune as I did. I was so excited to see all of my friends, and more importantly, to hang out with them later that night. When I reached Riku's house, I waited for a moment, seeing if maybe he was running late, but that's not like him. He's early. So I continued down the street till I reached Namine's house. She usually late, so I waited at her front gate.

"Oh?" Namine said as she stepped out of her front door, "Hey Bridget!"

"Hey!" I responded happily. She ran up to me, and we began walking towards Sora's house, I turned to look at Namine, and with I deep breath, I asked, "We're friends right?" Namine looked up at me in awe.

"What kind of question is that?" She asked, and then she smiled, "Of course we are!" I felt happier then I had in awhile, she was so happy about it too. I couldn't wait to keep asking people. Or, asking my friends, I had even planned to ask Hayner, but that was getting ahead of myself.

We continued to Sora's house, and waited outside for a moment. Then he dashed out with he stuff literally falling out of the open pocket. "Hey guys," he breathed.

"You look better!" I said happily. Sora looked at me for a moment, with his head cocked to the side.

"Whoa, why are you so happy?" He asked. I shrugged, then his mouth dropped, "No way! Did R---" Namine suddenly covered his mouth with her hands.

"Lets keep going, Kay?" She said quickly. I cocked my head to the side, _why are the acting so weird?_ I wondered. I didn't think too much of it, as we kept walking along the street. Sora kept looking at me and giggling.

"Sora," I said, he held his mouth shut as if he was going to laugh, "We're friends right?" I said in a stern voice. He unclenched his mouth, and looked at me in a puzzled way, "So why are you laughing at me?" I asked angrily. I wasn't _actually _angry; I just had to ask him, in an incognito way.

"You'll find out…." he mumbled. That freaked me out.

As we walked to school, Sora stopped laughing, and joined Namine in more planning for the meteor shower. I had actually spaced out. I was too happy to concentrate on anything besides my OFFICIAL friends and me.

When I got into homeroom, I found a small folded up piece of paper on my desk. I put my bag down, and picked it up, slowly unfolding it. On the paper, the was a message, written to me, I suppose, that read;

Meet me in Library at 1:30

My heart skipped a beat, one name passed through my mind upon reading it, _Hayner, Hayner, Hayner. _And how could I say no to Hayner? And if it wasn't Hayner, then I would reject them. Simple as that.

Of Course, when are things ever that simple?

I had asked everyone if I was there friend, and they all said 'yes', that is, everyone but Riku. He'd seemed to disappear off the planet when we weren't in class. And I couldn't get hold of him, just to ask whether or not we were friends. How difficult should it be? He didn't even _look_ at me during lunch. It hurt.

Then it came time for me to go to the library. I walked slowly, hoping that Riku may be feeling sick, and wouldn't be talking to anyone, or maybe something bad just happened at home and he wasn't in the mood to speak. As selfish as it may seem, I was hoping that maybe whatever the cause of his mood had nothing to do with me. I still wanted to be friends with the cool guy.

I sat in the library, checking my watch every few moments. No one that I had ever had a conversation with was in the area, but I sat there nonetheless.

"Bridget?" I heard. I looked up to see Riku standing above me. I smiled sweetly.

"So, you're not mad at me…" I mumbled, "That's a relief," he sat in the chair in front of me.

"Why would I be mad at you?" He asked.

"You've been avoiding me all day," I mumbled, "You wouldn't even look at me…" I trailed off as Pence approached our table. Riku seemed to almost glare at Pence, but maybe I was imagining it. "Hey," I said sweetly.

"H-hey," he mumbled, "Listen, what do you think about going to watch the meteor showers with me?" He asked. Oh. Was he the one who wrote the note? I looked over at the angry Riku, and then back at Pence.

"Sorry, I think I'm watching it with some friends," I said apologetically. Pence didn't stop up there, he kept going.

"Why don't we hang out another day?" Pence asked desperately, "Just you and me, we can go get some pizza," he breathed.

"Err…" I trailed off. Riku stood up and walked in front of Pence, standing tall.

"Sorry, I don't think she's interested," he spat. Pence stepped back a bit. And then looked back down at me. I gave an awkward smile, and then he looked up towards Riku. He finally stomped off, and I sigh with relief.

"Thanks…" I mumbled as I ran my hand through my hair, he kneeled down beside me, so that he could look straight into my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I was just a little disappointed, I was hoping it was someone else." I said, mostly to myself, but Riku had obviously heard. Then it hit me, I had Riku right there, and I could finally ask him what he considered me, "So Riku," I began, all of his attention was directed at me, "I don't know how we became friends, and sometimes, I don't know what you consider me to be…" I was rambling, but I wanted him to know every single detail, "but I do want to know...Do you consider me a frien—"

"Pence wasn't the one to write you that note," Riku said suddenly. I paused.

"What?" I breathed, "How do you know that? Who wrote it?" I said frantically, my heart jumping with delight, praying it would be Hayner. Riku took a deep breath in, and he moved just a bit closer to me.

"I did," he finally said. _Say WHAT?_ I felt my eyes bulge as I looked at Riku. _Maybe he just wanted to tell me something important, _I thought.

"So, there's something you wanted to talk to me about, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he sighed, I waited patiently for this completely normal statement. Or that's what I had hoped, "I like you." My jaw dropped, "In fact, I think I may love you," He corrected himself. He bit his lip, taking another deep breath in, "Would you go out with me?" I was at a loss for words, I could barely figure out how to breathe, Riku, of all people was confessing to me. And oh yeah, he didn't just love me, oh no, he just may've _loved me. _And I was debating whether or not I was his friend. "Bee," He laughed, "you gotta stay with me. You can't just go off in your little world and leave me here."

"I—" I stuttered, "I…" I couldn't say no to Riku, but I couldn't say yes. I didn't want him to assume anything. He waited patiently for my reply, but I didn't have a thing to say.

"It's okay," he said after what seemed like a few minutes. He took my hand in his, and pressed his lips in the palm of my hand. My face went hot, as I felt the warmth of his lips, and the tickle as his hair fell over my wrist. He pressed his mouth against my palm, hard, and he didn't remove his lips from my skin for a long time, my heart was beating faster and faster every moment. Finally, I felt him lift from my palm, and he slowly let his eyes wander back to mine, "you don't have to answer now." My kissed my palm once more, before standing up.

He kept holding my hand, as he looked down at me, maybe hoping for a response, but he soon realized that it wasn't the time, and as he walked away, he let my hand slip from his grip. I watched as he left the library, he turned to look at me once more before turning the corner into the hallway.

I took a deep breath in, and released it. I had actually stopped breathing. I looked at the hand Riku had touched, _kissed. _It shook with excitement, and exhilaration. Was Riku always this seductive?

I couldn't move, my legs wouldn't let me stand and besides that, I didn't _want_ to stand. So I sat in the library, I didn't even have enough strength to pull myself so I could face a desk and do something productive. I just sat with one hand at my side, and one hand on my lap, so I could look at where Riku kissed MY hand.

And I couldn't respond, I hadn't ever thought of Riku as the boyfriend type, and now that he's confessed, I haven't the slightest clue what to do. All I know is he kissed my hand.

And I liked it. A lot.

Class was going to start soon, and as Hard as it was, I stood up and wobbled to Astronomy, just like they day before. I seemed to be floating on cloud 9, because I hadn't a clue what was going on around me, I just replayed Riku's confession over and over again in my head.

Before I could even think up a response, class was over, and I would be going to the islands. With Riku and four other friends. And I had to tell him how I felt about him…Wait, how did I feel?

"Hey Bee," Kairi said as she approached me in the hallway. "Bee?" She said.

"Hey," I said slowly, "how's life on the upside?" I found myself mumbling.

"_Upside? _ Jeez Bee, what happened?" I paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to tell Kairi. Of course I did.

"Riku confessed," I sighed. "He told me, that he liked me…No sorry, he told me he loved me." Kairi's face lit up with joy.

"He did?!" She squealed, "That's so amazing! He always tells me he's going to do it, but never does," she explained. _Wait, what?_ Kairi looked ecstatic. "You have to tell me everything!"

"Kairi, how long has Riku liked me?" I asked.

"Oh I don't know," She sighed as she tried to remember, "I'm pretty sure he told me about it in the beginning of last year." My head began to spin as I tried to comprehend everything she was telling me. I was barely _anyone's_ friend in the beginning of last year. I don't remember ever talking to Riku before last summer!

"A-and, when did he first try to tell me…" I couldn't finish the sentence; just thinking about the frase made my head spin.

"Maybe a couple months a go, before Christmas break," she sighed. If my head had to ability to exploded, that's what it would be doing, "Why are you asking so many questions!" She pouted, "Tell me what happened!"

"A lot," I breathed.

"Well that's not helpful at all," Kairi whined, "Well did you at least say yes?"

"No."

"You said no??"

"No." There was a long pause as Kairi stared at me wide eyed.

"Bee, tell me you _didn't_," she hissed. I hadn't a clue what she was talking about, I hadn't done anything. I waited for her to finish, "You _never _make a guy wait! Can you imagine how Riku is feeling right now?"

"I haven't thought about it," I admitted.

"Well, it's probably not very good," she said knowledgably. "You are going to say yes, aren't you?" She asked. I shrugged, "Do you even like him?"

"I didn't," I mumbled, "To tell you the truth, I liked Hayner when I woke up this morning."

"Seriously? We all thought you liked Riku for sure," Kairi said, and then her eyes widened, "Wait…Hayner? He's nice but…ew…" Usually if anyone insulted Hayner, I would take it personally and insult them right back. But, I just didn't care. "Okay," Kairi sighed, "Who do you like now?"

"Good question," I mumbled. "Was Riku always so…" I trailed off as I looked at my feet.

"Sexy? Seductive?" Kairi guessed. I looked back up at her.

"No way, do you like him?" I asked in awe. Kairi laughed out loud, waving her hand back and forth as if what I had just sad was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"God no!" She laughed, "I just know a lot of people who do."

"Oh, you mean Olette?" I guessed.

"Um…Riku is pretty popular with the girls in the school," She explained, "He has a lot of admirers." I cocked my head to the side, "You know? Like he gets asked out a lot. So if you like him, you should say something. Who knows? Some new girl might show up during the Meteor shower…"

"But, I don't know…" I said. Kairi let out a sigh of defeat and then began pushing me out of the hallway.

"Come on," she urged, "We're going to be late if we don't get to the beach soon." I was a little bit reluctant to go, but part of me really wanted to see Riku. So I followed Kairi to the beach.

The others were waiting patiently on the dock, including Riku. He was facing the Island, so I could only see his back. His long sliver hair delicately blew with the wind. Even when he wasn't facing me, my heart began to race. I tugged at the bottom of my skirt nervously as I approached the dock.

"Hey, you guys are late," Roxas said upon seeing us. Kairi looked over at me, and then smiled back at Roxas.

"Yeah, sorry," Said Kairi, "Bridget and I just needed a heart to heart."

"And you thought _now _was a good time?" Said Sora irritably. He was sitting with his pants rolled up, and his feet dangling in the water. Kairi charged at him.

"Yes, we did. Is that a problem?" Kairi challenged as she pulled on one of his cheeks.

"Nowe…." He said, "Pwease wet goe of muy cheek." Roxas and Namine chuckled at them, but Riku barely even turned. I stepped onto the dock, my heart beating like it had before.

"So, since Roxas, Namine, and Bridget don't have a boat, we'll have to go in pairs, right?" Kairi said. We all nodded. "Okay, then why doesn't Namine go with me?" Kairi said.

"Sounds good!" Said Namine happily. That left me with either Riku or Sora, and I was praying for Sora.

"Okay, then can I go with Sora?" Roxas asked innocently, "I know Sora run's can get pretty lazy when we get about half way," he chuckled. Sora did have a tendency to get lazy. We all knew he could row as far as he wanted, but he just didn't have any desire too.

"Hey, why don't you just row the whole way?" Sora suggested.

"Ha. Right," Roxas laughed. I was left with Riku. Kairi tapped him on the shoulder, and he just barely turned to talk to her.

"You'll go with Bridget, right?" She asked.

"If she wants to," he mumbled. Kairi looked at me, and I nodded.

"Okay, then lets go!" Sora said. His boat was tied to the dock, and he and Roxas quickly hopped in it. They pushed off, and began rowing away. Kairi and Namine had a little more trouble getting off. Namine wasn't strong in the least, and Kairi just wasn't too coordinated, so they're departure consisted of Namine vigorously rowing, but getting nowhere, and Kairi trying to get into the boat with out flipping it. I couldn't help but laugh.

When they were finally gone, I turned to head off with Riku, but nor him or his boat were to be found.

"Riku?" I called as I desperately looked around, "Riku? Where are you?"

"I'm over here," he said calmly. He and his boat were on the beach. He was dragging the whole thing towards the shore, "Come here," he said. I obliged and ran up to where he and the boat were. "Get in," he said. I didn't completely understand since we were barely deep enough to start going anywhere, but I didn't argue. I stepped into the front of the boat and sat down.

"How are we going to get off of shore?" I asked.

"I'll push of course," he laughed.

"In your _uniform?_" I asked. He suddenly pulled off of his shirt. My heart jumped madly as he threw it into the boat, "What are you doing?!" I chocked.

"Calm down, I'm wearing swim shorts under this," he said calmly. _How does that help?_ I thought to myself, _you're still stripping!_ He pulled his shoes and socks off, followed by his pants. I looked away after I realized how much I was staring.

Suddenly, the boat started to move. I could hear the sand moving out from under us as he pushed the boat deeper and deeper, until finally, sand wasn't holding the boat up. With one swift movement, he pulled himself in, took the oar and started paddling. The boat swayed back and forth before he was able to keep its balance.

Then I started to stare again, you could see as his whole body worked to move the boat forward. As his muscles would tense and un-tense, as he shoulder blades would periodically seem to emerge from his seemingly flat back. And who knew that he would have a legitimate 6 pack? It wasn't gross like body builders, who's seem to jot out. Riku's had just enough of an outline to notice it.

And then his face. His long silver hair that fell over his bare shoulders, his pale lips, that just barely parted as he took even breathes. And then there were his eyes, sea foam green eyes that seemed to sparkle as the water shined from below, and the sun blazed from above. Why hadn't I noticed it before?

"Can I ask you something?" Riku asked suddenly.

"Y-yes!" I shouted. I quickly covered my mouth when I realized how awkward and loud I sounded. Riku smiled a bit, but then his face fell again. He stopped rowing, and then I noticed how quiet it was.

"Were you really surprised when I told you?" He said. He was talking about the confession, naturally. But luckily this was an easy question to answer. I nodded my head.

"Actually, I was worried that you didn't like me even as a friend," I admitted.

"You serious?" He asked. I nodded. That must've come as a surprise for him. "Wow, you are so dense," he laughed. I laughed a bit too. At least he didn't feel awkward, I on the other hand couldn't say the same.

"Maybe…" I mumbled. Riku's face fell again, as he searched me. I quickly looked away. _How does he make me feel?_ I kept asking myself. _He makes my heart race; he makes me feel hot all over with out even touching me…_

"Bee," he laughed, "You cant just leave me here," I was getting used to this frequent sentence. He'd always say it, after I'd space out. "It hurts to wait." I looked up at him in awe. Was I really hurting him so much? Was it that hard to wait while I sorted things out?

"I'm sorry!" I yelped. Riku's went from serious, to blank. "I don't know! I don't know!" I cried out. Riku looked at the oar, and picked it up plunging it into the crystal water. I felt as we began to move once more, and I listen as the water swayed around the oar that was in the water, as it beat against the side of wood of Riku's boat.

I bit my lip as I watched him. He looked so defeated, so pathetic. Like I had broken him by not knowing the answer. I hated myself for making Riku look like that. I liked to confident, put together Riku. Who was always helping me, and looking out for me? I wanted him to be like that. I wanted him to be happy. I wanted so much for Riku, and I only wanted one other thing from him.

I wanted him to kiss me again.

I felt my face go red as I imagined him kissing me not in my palm, but on the lips. His sweet, soft and warm lips on mine, just thinking about it made me shiver. It made my heart pound a million beats per minute. It made me feel restless, and I began nervously fidgeting. _I'm so stupid!_ I thought to myself.

I was in love with Riku. And I had been for a while.

That's why I cared what he thought of me, that's why I wanted to know what he was thinking just like how he knew what I was thinking. I wanted to be his best friend. I wanted to be the closest thing to him. And what's worse, I just broke his heart.

_I'm such an Idiot!_ I couldn't believe how unbelievably dumb I had been. How unbelievably cruel I had acted. He was right, I was dense. Too dense. I looked up at Riku; he was still rowing us slowly to Destiny Islands.

"Riku," I mumbled. He didn't respond, but I was hoping he could hear me. "When you confessed to me, I forgot how to breathe," I admitted. He didn't look up. I took a deep breath in, "And, you may not believe this, but you also made my heart beat so fast, that I couldn't stand up after you left," nothing. He just kept rowing, "Listen, I know I'm an idiot. And I know I'm dense," I was rambling again, "but you're the first guy to tell me he liked me," I explained, "so…"

He finally looked up at me. A devilish grin slipped onto his face.

"That was quite the speech," he joked. My jaw dropped, "I'm flattered. When did figure out all of this?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I breathed. He took the oar out of the water, and we glided for a bit. I noticed a large shadow forming over me and I realized that we had almost gotten to the island.

"I mean what I said," he said still grinning at me. And then he began to laugh hysterically. I felt my face getting red, and I tugged at the edge of my skirt.

"I tell you exactly how I feel, and you _laugh_ at me?" I ask. My face got hotter so I looked down to the bottom of the boat.

"I'm sorry," He laughed, "I'm just so relieved to hear you say that." I cocked my head to the side.

"Why is that?" I asked. Riku stopped laughing, stood up, and began to bend over me the boat began to rock so I quickly grabbed both sides for support. I could feel his breath on my neck. Some of his hair fell gently onto my shoulders, making me flinch.

"That's because you basically just confessed to me," he whispered. I frantically moved over to one side and let go of the boat.

"That wasn't a confession!" I shouted. Because I had shifted seats suddenly, and because Riku was standing up, the boat began to tip, and next thing I knew I was under water. I kicked my legs and came up for a gasp of air.

I was facing shore, and I could see Sora, Roxas, Namine and Kairi setting a blanket on the ground. They hadn't noticed us yet because we were to far right for them to actually notice the boat. Suddenly I felt a tug at my leg. I squeaked a bit, but when I looked down I could see a distorted Riku below me as the water rippled. I watched as he came up for air.

"I can't believe you flipped the boat," he laughed.

"Me?" I shouted in disbelief, "You were the one standing!" He grinned, but didn't respond. I noticed how stable he seemed in comparison to how I was frantically treading water. "Can your feet touch the ground?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"How?" I asked. He laughed again.

"Bee, I'm a lot taller then you," he pointed out. _Right._ I also realized that I had fallen into the water in my uniform. I looked down. You couldn't see through any of my clothes, and my skirt wasn't revealing too much, but I knew it would be different once we came out of the water.

"Uh oh," I moaned.

"What?"

"Your clothes," I pointed to Riku's uniform clothes, which were floating around the capsized boat. He looked at them for a moment and then turned back to me. "Aren't you going to go get them?" I asked. He shook his head. "What about your boat?"

"I'll get it later," he said calmly. I heard Roxas and Namine's voices approaching where we had just fallen. Riku must've heard it too, because he turned to look towards the dock and towards shore.

"Thank god!" I said, "They can help us." Riku didn't look so enthusiastic. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me under the dock. I had to sit on the sand, so that I didn't have to get out of the water. Riku was kneeling because, well, if he stood he would hit his head. "Riku?" I whispered, he quickly covered my mouth with his hand. I listened and heard the sounds of Roxas' and Namine's feet as the stood over us.

"Hey, isn't that Riku's boat?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, it looks like they had some kind of accident," Namine guessed, "Lets go get Sora and Namine. We can help them pull it on shore." I heard Namine walking away, but I didn't hear Roxas' footsteps.

"Where do you think they are?" Roxas asked.

"Who cares?" Namine yelled from farther away. And then I heard Roxas leaving. Riku waited a few moments before dropping his hand from my mouth.

"Why are we hiding?" I whispered to him. He moved away and peaked out to where Kairi and the others were. He watched them intensely. And then he smiled, and turned back to me. "Riku?" I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Why are we hiding?" I asked again.

"Because," he said simply. He got down on his hands and knees and began crawling towards me. He kept his head down, letting his hair skim to surface of the water. He came closer and closer till he was looking down at me, his hands on either side of me. His face was inches away from mine, and my heart began to pound.

"W-what are you doing?" I squeaked as his face began to get closer and closer to mine. His lips parted slowly as they got closer to mine. I had forgotten how to breath again like before, but as the skin of his lips touch mine, I just don't want too. I wanted to put all of my focus on him.

"This," he mumbled. Then he pressed his lips up against mine. They were everything I imagined, and more, soft, warm, and surprisingly salty. He touched my cheeks with the nubs of his fingers dragging them down to my chin when we finally parted. He leaves his fingers on me for an extra moment before leaving me completely. He sat back and smiled. I stare at him blankly, finally breathing. "So, do you finally have an answer?" He asked. Though I already think he knew.

"I forgot how to breathe again," I admitted. Riku laughed.

"Huh?" Sora popped his head under the deck to find Riku and I, "What are you doing here?" He asked obliviously.

"That's none of your business," Riku joked. Sora didn't completely understand it, but he didn't care too much either.

"Okay, well, Roxas' is getting you're boat," Sora said.

"That's okay, I'll get it," Riku sighed as he walked out towards where the boat was. Sora turned to me, and then motioned me to follow.

"You coming?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Do you think you could get Kairi for me?" I asked.

After changing out of my wet clothes, and putting on a big t-shirt that usually stays on the island for purposes such as ruining clothes, the boys went off to do there fighting, while Namine, Kairi and I watched. I was able to tell them that I had basically agreed to be with Riku on some weird levels. They weren't surprised. I was.

Once the sun had gone down, we laid on the beach looking up at the night sky. All six of us hand in hand. One of my hands was with Kairi, the other with Riku. Then, the meteor shower began. Dozens of stars fell at a time, just streaking across the night sky. I turned to Riku.

"Amazing, isn't it?" I asked. He lifted our hands up and kissed my knuckles gently.

"Yeah, it is." He said as he turned back up to the sky. Kairi squeezed my hand and I turned to look at her. She smiled as if to say _I'm happy for you._ Then she turned back to the stars. I had 4 amazing friends, and of course I had Riku. I couldn't ask for any more.

**Yeah! That's it! I know it was ridiculously long, and I am sorry about that, but I worked so hard on this. So hard! I couldn't even update my other story!! (But I'll get on that immediately! Sorry!) Yeah…. PLEASE REVIEW!!!**


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